…as we bid a fond farewell to Black History Month.
Till next year.
Category: History
Four Down, Six To Go
Okay, maybe three and seven out of the ten listed. (I read Undaunted Courage, about the Lewis & Clark expedition, not Lewis’s account, but that should count for something.)
Of the others, Storm of Steel impressed me the most. Ernst Jünger must be the greatest soldier who ever lived, if for no other reason that he survived all four years of WWI in the trenches of the Western Front, not as some staff flunky or quartermaster’s orderly, but as a front-line rifleman. And not a whiny little brat like Remarque‘s Paul, either: just a man of steel — which could have been the title of his book, come to think of it.
I’ve been wanting to read Last Train for years, but just never got around to it. Ditto Death Company, if for no other reason than to fill in the many gaps of my knowledge of the Italian Front. Both duly ordered.
I’ll get after the rest in due course — it’s an excellent list, so thanks to the folks at Intellectual Takeout for that. (If they aren’t on your list of daily reads, fix that now.)
Manufacturing
Am I the last man to discover the excellent War Factories series on the Eeeewww Choob?
If you haven’t watched it, kiss your weekend goodbye, as I did last weekend.
You can thank me later.
There’s also the sulky-looking and acerbic Alexandra Churchill to be seen occasionally. She really, really hates the Nazis from the 1940s — and who can blame her?
Oh, and she’s definitely not related to WSC:
If this is the New Breed of Lady Historians, bring it on.
Historical Voice Stilled Forever
I see with extreme regret that historian Paul Johnson has died. Shit.
There is a very good case that Johnson’s History Of The American People should be required source material for high school U.S. History classes.
And his History Of The Jews and History Of Christianity (along with Jacques Barzun’s From Dawn To Decadence) should be part of World History classes in both high school and university curricula.
Oh, for heaven’s sake: if you read all of Paul Johnson’s history books and absorb just a third of the material, you’ll still be one of the most educated people on the planet.
He will most definitely be missed.
We Will Remember Them
The Right Stuff
For my long-suffering Brit Readers, who often have to deal with my barbs and jibes:
For my Murkin and Non-Colonial Readers, here’s a brief explanation if this heroic man is unknown to you. We have no such role model, try as the DemSocs may to create one:
Our guy [sic] definitely had the more striking outfit, although it’s probably not the best choice to adopt if one is trying to sneak into a government building.